John Johnson photograph of Manilla Jewett. Stan Schmunk, who grew up in Lincoln's South Bottoms, helped track down the identify of the young woman in the shirtdress and shared it with Doug Keister and Ed Zimmer who co-authored a book on the Johnson photos.

Lincoln native Stan Schmunk provided the identity of the little girl at the edge of a now-colorized portrait that featured the children of Cora and Alonzo Thomas. John Johnson's photos of members of Lincoln’s African American community in the early decades of the 1900s are on display at History Nebraska.

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John Johnson photograph of Manilla Jewett. Stan Schmunk, who grew up in Lincoln's South Bottoms, helped track down the identify of the young woman in the shirtdress and shared it with Doug Keister and Ed Zimmer who co-authored a book on the Johnson photos.

COURTESY DOUGLAS KEISTER COLLECTION

Lincoln native Stan Schmunk provided the identity of the little girl at the edge of a now-colorized portrait that featured the children of Cora and Alonzo Thomas. John Johnson's photos of members of Lincoln’s African American community in the early decades of the 1900s are on display at History Nebraska.

Stan Schmunk has been a California man for decades now, but for most of his years growing up he called the South Bottoms home.

His dad worked in the toy department at Gold’s -- the giant store that took up most of a downtown block -- and later owned his own toy shop a few doors down on O Street.

His mom stayed home with Stan and his sister when they were small and, after the divorce, she went to work for Back to the Bible.

They were first-generation Americans, two of the many descendants of Germans from the Volga River Valley of Russia who settled in Lincoln.

Stan’s boyhood neighborhood ran along the west edge of town, modest clapboard houses from A Street north and from the railroad tracks on First Street east for nine blocks.

Stan is 74 now and retired. He remembers those places well, his old stomping grounds.

And he knew some of the people that a photographer named John Johnson had captured with his camera, most of them members of Lincoln’s African American community in the early decades of the 1900s.

Like the little white girl at the edge of a portrait that featured the children of Cora and Alonzo Thomas, a black couple who ran a small grocery from the front room of their house at 715 C.

That’s Marie Busche, Schmunk told Doug Keister, the man who had acquired a box of Johnson’s glass negatives when he was a budding photographer in 1965.

Schmunk knew the little girl was 3 when the photo was taken. He knew that she lived with her father a few houses from the Thomas family on C Street.

And he shared that history with Keister, who had co-authored the book “Lincoln in Black and White” with the city’s historic preservation planner, Ed Zimmer, in 2008.

This spring, nearly three dozen of Johnson’s photographs from Keister’s collection are on display at History Nebraska. Later this month, Zimmer will lead bicycle tours around the neighborhoods Johnson captured in his work.

Schmunk won’t be here to see them, but he has spent nearly 20 years doing research of his own on the history of his old neighborhood.

“There’s this unbelievable intersection of blacks and Volga Germans in Lincoln, Nebraska,” he says. “There’s nothing else like it in the United States.”

His own interest in that bond began when he returned home for a funeral 20 years ago and drove by an empty lot south of the Bottoms at 10th and Rose streets.

Schmunk had been a Lincoln Star paperboy in 1958 and the house that once stood on that corner was on his route.

He liked the black gentleman who lived there, a recent widower.

“He was one of the few customers who invited me in when I came to collect,” Schmunk says. “He was so warm and welcoming."

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On a cold morning in February, his mother drove him to deliver his papers and they saw smoke spilling from the home.

They reported it to the fire department and found out later its owner, 82-year-old James Dean, had died.

“He was just the sweetest old man. I can remember the inside of his house like it was this morning.”

The day of Schmunk’s return visit, the empty lot had looked overgrown and neglected. Once back in California, the former paperboy sat down at his computer.

“I looked him up. I just wanted to know more.”

That quest eventually led him to Keister and the book of photographs he and Zimmer published.

Over the years, he’s supplied the pair with information on more than a dozen photographs.

“He’s put in a lot of time and given me some identifications I did not have,” Zimmer said. “And uses the sources like yearbooks and census and puts in considerable effort.”

Keister calls it a treasure hunt.

“After Ed figures out an address, armed with the information, Stan gets (online) and tries to connect the dots.”

A few years ago, Keister met up with Schmunk in Los Angeles and they paid a visit to one of Cora and Alonzo Thomas’ grandchildren -- the daughter of the baby in the old Johnson photo. (Dee Thomas is an accomplished singer who performed with Lionel Richie and Dionne Warwick.)

It’s the only time the pair have met in person -- and Schmunk has yet to see Keister’s collection of photos on display.

But, he’ll keep looking.

He learned a lot of history -- and black history -- from his African American neighbors in the South Bottoms.

And John Johnson’s photos keep that history alive.

“I’ve done a lot of research and there are great stories from each and every family.”

Historic images of black Lincolnites

2001

The address on the house behind these well-appointed gentlemen suggests it was the home of George and Fronia Butcher at 2001 U St. Butcher (thought to be the taller man) was born in Philadelphia in 1874, and died at the VA Hospital in Lincoln in 1958. He worked for the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad as a porter and for Burlington as a laborer in the Havelock Shops. Fronia Butcher was even more long-lived, reaching 100 years (1879-1979).The dapper man with the cane remains unidentified. The photograph is among many taken in Lincoln on black and white glass negatives by African-American photographers John Johnson and Earl McWilliams between 1910 and 1925.

Courtesy photo

Mother's touch

The woman and boy are unidentified, but surely the photograph captures a mother's reassuring touch. The photograph is among many taken in Lincoln on black and white glass negatives by African-American photographers John Johnson and Earl McWilliams between 1910 and 1925.

Courtesy photo

Baseball player

From his socks and knickers to his cap, this ballplayer is well uniformed from head to ankle, but his spiked shoes have seen better days. Frank Gillen, president of Gillen and Boney Candy Co. of Lincoln, probably sponsored the team. Around 1890, the all-black Lincoln Giants met with considerable success against town teams across the state. This player's heavily padded mitt shows he was a catcher. The photograph is among many taken in Lincoln on black and white glass negatives by African-American photographers John Johnson and Earl McWilliams between 1910 and 1925.

Courtesy photo

Florence Jones and companion

The young lady on the right is Florence Jones (later Clark). Her companion has not been identified. Jones was a student at Park and McKinley elementary schools and Lincoln High School, graduating in 1923. The photograph is among many taken in Lincoln on black and white glass negatives by African-American photographers John Johnson and Earl McWilliams between 1910 and 1925.

Courtesy photo

John and Odessa Johnson

John Johnson, shown with wife Odessa in August 1918, photographed life in Lincoln, focusing on African Americans.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Keister

John Johnson photos

Mamie Griffin, who worked as a cook, lived at 915 U St. in 1914 with her husband, Edward, a waiter at the Lincoln Hotel. Their little house and other humble residences stood on a dirt street among railroad tracks and industrial uses north of downtown Lincoln. Far from humble are the dress and demeanor of this woman, posing confidently with her romance novel, "The Wife of Monte Cristo."

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

John Johnson photos

Manitoba "Toby" James had three daughters and two sons. Pictured with him here are his firstborn son, Mauranee (in the hat at right), and his daughters Myrtha (left) and Edna (center).

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

John Johnson photos

In this photo by John Johnson of Lincoln, 10 people and a dog share in a backyard picnic, circa 1910-25. The scene appears casual, but the picnic benches have been angled out from the table to allow each person to be seen, and to lead the eye to the couple serving as host and hostess. Johnson documented African-American life in Lincoln in the early 20th century.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

John Johnson photos

Two women show off their pit bull terrier, circa 1910-25.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

John Johnson photos

This scan of a glass plate negative made circa 1910-25 shows students in Lincoln. A number of the girls in the front row are holding piano music, indicating they may have been giving or attending a recital.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

Members of a Teach Me to Color Facebook group have colorized some of the John Johnson’s black and white photographs, owned by Doug Keister, using digital techniques.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

Douglas Keister

This photograph was taken on the front porch of a house that still stands at 715 C St. in Lincoln. At the time Cora and Alonzo Thomas ran a grocery store in the front room of the home. Four of the Thomas children and two friends are in the photo. The baby is Lonnie Thomas, born in 1909, who became a championship golfer. Lonnie’s daughter Deborah Thomas was a backup singer for several groups including Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. The little white girl at the side is Marie Busch, who lived next door at 703 C St., the daughter of Germans from Russia immigrants.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

Douglas Keister

This scan of a glass plate negative by photographer John Johnson shows early Lincoln history.

JOHN JOHNSON, Courtesy Douglas Keister

Douglas Keister

After this John Johnson photograph was featured in Newsweek magazine in November 1999, collection owner Douglas Keister received a call from a radiologist in Atlanta, Ga. The man, Jim Zakem, said the child on the far left was his father, James. Zakem's grandfather, Lebanese-born Alexander K. Zakem (1879-1942), and his wife Anise had three children. James, born in Michigan in 1917, is pictured at left beside little sister Lillian. The blond boy was a playmate. Older sister Adeline (at right) was born in Montreal in 1916.